JINHA

SÊRT – After the Turkish state refused to surrender the body of Kurdish woman guerrilla Maxzume Muhammedzade, an eight-day popular vigil in the city of Siirt, Turkey has finally succeeded in returning Maxzume's body to her family.

YJA STAR guerrilla Maxzume Muhammedzade, originally from the city of Selmas in Eastern Kurdistan (Iran), died on June 14 in the Siirt province of Turkey after Turkish soldiers laid an ambush for Kurdish guerrillas there. When Maxzume's family traveled to Turkey to retrieve her body and bring her across the border for burial, the Turkish state initially refused to surrender the body. They said a DNA test was necessary to prove the family's relationship. It was reported that the Turkish state planned to interMaxzumein a local cemetery.

Maxzume's family started a vigil outside the morgue at the Siirt State Hospital. Hundreds of locals joined in, demanding that Maxzume be turned over to her family and chanting against the Turkish state. The vigil continued for eight days. Finally, Maxzume's family won. The crowd stood for a minute of silence as Maxzume's coffin—wrapped in the red, green and yellow of the Kurdish flag—was brought out of the hospital.

"Let our enemies know that there are thousands more young people like Sarya fighting in the mountains and valleys of Kurdistan," said Maxzume's brother-in-law, Cemal Muhammed Puri, referring to Maxzume by her code name.

The crowd accompanied the hearse to the border of the city, where the convoy set out to bear Maxzume's coffin to the Habur Border Gate with Iraq. The family plans to bury Maxzume in a ceremony in her native city of Selmas, Iran.

(gc/cm)